An FPC includes a great number of terminals in parallel. The FPC having such a structure is detachably connected to a printed board using a connector including a great number of contacts provided in parallel. Conventional connectors are known as disclosed in Patent Documents 1, 2, and so forth, in which the contact members and the terminals of the FPC are pressed in contact with each other through an operating member so as to connect the great number of terminals with the contact members all at the same time. With such a conventional structure, the FPC is held in a sure manner without undesirable disengagement thereof from the connector.
A connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a housing having a structure in which an FPC insertion opening is formed on one face thereof for the insertion of an FPC, and a cover insertion opening is formed on the other face thereof for the insertion of a cover. On the other hand, each contact member includes a pressing portion provided so as to face the cover insertion opening, and a contact portion provided so as to face the FPC insertion opening. With such an arrangement, upon inserting the cover into the cover insertion opening, each pressing portion is elastically bent. This action, in which each pressing member is elastically bent, presses the corresponding contact portion into contact with the FPC.
With such an arrangement, upon inserting the cover into the cover insertion opening formed on one face of the housing after the insertion of the FPC into the FPC insertion opening formed on the other face of the housing, the pressing portion of each contact member is elastically bent. This action presses the contact portion of the contact member into contact with the FPC. Thus, the FPC is pressed into contact with, and is connected with, the contact members.
On the other hand, a connector disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes: an insulating housing and a cover provided so as to allow the user to turn the cover in the longitudinal direction of the insulating housing. The insulating housing has a structure in which an insertion opening is provided at the front end thereof for the insertion of a flat flexible cable. Furthermore, multiple electroconductive terminals (contact members) are provided in parallel within the housing such that contact beams thereof face the insertion opening. Each of the electroconductive terminals (contact members) has a base beam and a U-shaped contact beam connected with one another through a connection portion so as to form a single unit. An engaging arm is provided at the rear end of each base beam. On the other hand, a lever arm is provided at the rear end of each contact beam. An engaging portion formed of the engaging arms of the multiple electroconductive terminals (contact members) provided in parallel and another engaging portion of the cover are engaged with one another in a manner which allows the user to turn the cover. Furthermore, the lever arm and the cover are provided such that the lever arm and the inner face of the cover face one another at the rear end of the cover. Such a structure allows the user to open and close the portion facing the U-shaped contact beam by turning the cover using the lever arm.
With such a structure, upon turning the cover, the inner face of the cover moves the lever arm. Then, the movement of the lever opens and closes the contact beams of the electroconductive terminals (contact members). After the opening of the contact beams, the user can insert the connection terminal of a flat flexible cable into the insertion opening with zero insertion force. Upon closing the contact beams, the contact beams are pressed into contact with the flat flexible cable with a certain contact pressure due to the elasticity of the contact beams. With such an arrangement, the opening and closing of the contact beams is performed by actions of the lever arms. This enables the user to turn the cover without large insertion force.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 7-18386    Patent Document 2: Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3019279Problems to be Solved by the Invention
However, the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem as follows. With the connector disclosed in Patent Document 1, upon inserting a flat flexible cable into the connector, the pressing portion of each contact member is elastically bent. This action presses the contact portion of each contact member into contact with the FPC. This means that stress is applied to each contact member during connection of the FPC with the connector. This causes creep, for example, leading to deterioration in the durability of the connector.
On the other hand, the connector disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a problem as follows. With the connector disclosed in Patent Document 2, the cover is turned while engaging the engaging portion, which are formed of lever arms disposed in parallel on the rear side of the electroconductive terminals (contact members), with the engaging portion of the cover. With such a structure, stress is applied to the lever arms disposed at the rear side of the electroconductive terminals (contact members) every time the user opens or closes the cover. This causes deterioration in the durability of the connector. On the other hand, the cover is not engaged with the housing. In some cases, this leads to undesirable disengagement of the FPC from the connector.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned problems. Accordingly, it is an object thereof to provide a connector which enables the lever serving as a cover to be maintained in an open or closed state in a certain manner while improving the durability thereof.